Tag: Active management

Do property tax benefits for forest landowners work?

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Every state in the U.S. has a program that lowers property taxes for people who enroll their private forestlands. But the programs may not work, according to a new review paper by USDA Forest Service research economist Greg Frey. Frey organized the review around two broad goals that the programs might have: keeping forests as…  More 

One Acorn, Two Acorns, Three Acorns, Four…

by Stephanie Siegel, USDA Forest Service contract science writer  • 
By lying on your back under an oak tree, you can look up and estimate its number of acorns. But why? “A lot of state wildlife agencies do acorn surveys annually because hunters want to know crop sizes, which fluctuate like crazy from year to year, among different oak species, and among locations,” says USDA…  More 

Photo Guide to Fuel Loads in the Southern Appalachians

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
A new photo guide shows fuel loads in the Southern Appalachian mountains. A team of four experts wrote the guide: Adam Coates, a professor at Virginia Tech; Tom Waldrop, a USDA Forest Service research forester who is now retired; Todd Hutchinson, a research ecologist at the Northern Research Station; and Helen Mohr, an SRS forester…  More 

The Southern Pine Module Goes Virtual

by Jim Guldin, Southern Research Station Silviculturist  • 
In 2019, Janet Hinchee, the USDA Forest Service Regional Silviculturist for the South invited me to coordinate the Southern Pine Module, a ten day workshop for the Forest Service National Advanced Silviculture Program. The workshop is a key element of the agency’s program for National Forest land managers, especially district silviculturists, to obtain required silvicultural…  More 

Past Partial-Cutting Techniques More Beneficial Than Past Clear-Cutting

by Casey Conrad, SRS Science Communications Intern  • 
What is the most sustainable way to harvest a forest? A team led by USDA Forest Service scientists Katherine Elliott and Chelcy Miniat, along with Forest Service intern Andrea Medenblik, tries to answer this question. Data were analyzed from a long-term study looking at the biomass effects of partial-cutting versus clear-cutting in different watersheds in…  More 

Black Locust & Drought

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
With its symbiotic bacteria, black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) makes its own nitrogen fertilizer – and can share it with other tree species. “In early successional temperate forests, symbiotic nitrogen fixation is often the main source of new nitrogen,” says USDA Forest Service scientist Chelcy Miniat. But drought could slow the rate of symbiotic nitrogen fixation,…  More 

Workshop on Shortleaf Pine in the Southern Appalachians

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
On March 3 and 4, 2020, about 25 silviculturists, foresters, fire management officers, timber specialists, and other USDA Forest Service experts gathered for a two-day workshop on shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata). In the southern Appalachians, shortleaf pine restoration is a major priority for national forests and others. The species has an extensive range but its…  More 

Pondberry Responds to Light Availability and Soil Flooding

by Sarah Farmer, SRS Science Communications  • 
Pondberry is endangered, but it can persist through environmental stress. It prefers partial sun but can linger in deep shade for years. It can survive long periods of soil flooding, and even flowers while it’s flooded. “All indications are that this species would benefit from active management,” says Emile Gardiner, a USDA Forest Service research…  More